The American Political Science Association (APSA) and the Institute for Governance and Development (IGD) are pleased to announce a call for applications from individuals who would like to participate in a workshop on “Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective” in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The two-week workshop will be held from July 1st to July 12th at the IGD’s Center for Democratic Governance. The organizers, with a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will cover all the costs of participation (including travel, lodging, meals, and materials) for up to 26 qualified applicants. The workshop will be conducted in both English and French.

This special issue has a twofold objective. Firstly, to reinsert the most visible tensions that today come together to turn the Sahelian countries into a crisis zone into the ordinary context that produced them. The most obvious signs of crises, be they coups, secession, armed rebellion, religious radicalization, rising criminality or increased poverty, cannot be understood in all their complexity if they are apprehended in isolation, as if they made sense in themselves or existed separately from their social and historical environment. At the same time, this special issue also aims to interrogate the effects of anti-crisis policies that have been applied in the Sahel over recent years, in particular to ask whether they are in fact new or rather the continuation of more longstanding policies by other means.

Saharan Crossroads seeks to counter the conceptual divide separating North and sub-Saharan Africa and the tendency to view the Sahara Desert as an impenetrable barrier dividing the continent into the northern “white” and sub-Saharan “black” Africa. Countries to the north often find themselves placed in Mediterranean, Islamic, and Middle Eastern studies with little consideration of cultural, historical, or artistic contact with sub-Saharan countries, which are often considered more authentically “African.” Despite trans-Saharan cultural contact spanning centuries, this inaccurate perception of Africa as two distinct zones separated by an empty wasteland of desert continues to influence the way people think about this region and the continent as a whole.

American , North African and West African Scholars interested in conducting research in any part of North or West Africa concerning Saharan Crossroads are encouraged to apply for short-term fellowships (up to three months) for awards up to 3,000 USD. US scholars flying from the United States will receive an additional travel stipend. Applicants may be students, senior or independent scholars who hold at least a Master’s Degree.

Research must be completed before Dec 31, 2013.
Proposals must include a curriculum vita, a five-page proposal, and a budget.
Applications should be submitted by August 15, 2012.
Awards will be announced by Oct 1, 2012.

Information is online at: http://www.bu.edu/wara/prog/saharan-crossroads/

Application is available at: http://fs9.formsite.com/westafricanresearchassociation/form7/index.html

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